With commendable regularity, Infinix offers budget smartphones to consumers. Not long ago, the manufacturer introduced its latest addition to the budget lineup, the Infinix Smart 8. The main feature that piques interest in the Smart 8 is its price, around $90-99. It’s all the more interesting to understand what you can get for this money.
The new model replaces the Infinix Smart 7, with their announcement just 7 months apart. However, the Smart 8 boasts an upgraded processor, a display with a higher refresh rate, better cameras, and a more recent version of Android.
Infinix Smart 8 specifications
- Display: IPS LCD, 6.6″, HD+, 720×1612, 90 Hz, brightness up to 500 nits
- Processor: Unisoc Tiger T606, 8 cores, 1.6 GHz, 12 nm
- Graphics processor: ARM Mali-G57 MP1
- Memory: 3/64 GB, 4/64 GB, 4/128 GB
- Memory card: microSD, up to 2 TB
- Data transfer: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, DualSIM, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C 2.0
- Main camera: 13 MP + 0.08 MP, Full HD video recording
- Front camera: 8 megapixels
- Battery: 5000 mAh, 33W charging power
- OS: Android 13 with XOS 13.0 shell
- Dimensions: 163.6 × 75.6 × 8.5 mm
- Weight: 184 g
- Colors: black, gold, green
Read also: Infinix HOT 40 Smartphone Review: Is it Really “Hot”?
Package contents
The Smart 8 comes with a comprehensive set of accessories: a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, a plastic case cover (which looks great, but the only downside is that it doesn’t protect the sides), a charger, wired earphones, and a SIM card removal tool. A protective film is already applied to the phone screen. I give a big plus for the accessory kit. Just buy the phone, and there’s no need to buy anything else.
Infinix Smart 8 аppearance
The Smart 8 has its own style. Despite its large size, the smartphone doesn’t look bulky. It’s slim and comfortable to hold with one hand. The edges have minimal rounding, and the cameras are arranged in a “triangle,” giving the model a certain resemblance to the iPhone body. The phone feels good in the hand and doesn’t create discomfort even during prolonged use.
The Smart 8’s body is made of plastic. On the right side, there’s a power button, which also serves as a fingerprint scanner (works without issues), as well as a volume control button.
There is a SIM card slot on the left side.
At the bottom edge, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, USB Type-C port, and speaker grille.
On the rear panel, in the upper part, there’s a large “island” that gives the impression of a triple camera setup. However, in reality, there are only two lenses: a 50 MP main sensor and a 0.08 MP auxiliary sensor. The “third camera” is simply a flash, cleverly positioned to mimic a triple camera setup.
On the front, there’s a 6.6-inch display with slightly thicker top and bottom bezels.
The selfie camera is elegantly built into the screen. And here, one cannot fail to mention another feature that makes this budget phone reminiscent of iPhones – the “Magic Ring” information window, a kind of Dynamic Island analog.
By the way, we’ve previously seen the same function in realme phones, so it’s not an Infinix invention. With the Magic Ring, you can “peek” at call duration, battery status, and other information; animations appear on the screen around the front camera.
Display
The Infinix Smart 8 features a 6.6-inch IPS display with HD+ resolution (720×1612) and a 90 Hz refresh rate. The maximum brightness is 500 nits, which is sufficient indoors but makes it difficult to use the display outdoors in direct sunlight as the images tend to fade significantly.
Color reproduction is decent, but the image lacks sharpness due to the low resolution for this diagonal size. Viewing angles are weak. However, let’s not forget that this is a model priced at up to $100!
The display has all the usual settings: light and dark themes, eye protection (blue light filtering), refresh rate adjustment (90 Hz, 60 Hz, or automatic mode), and so on.
Overall, the display isn’t perfect, but considering the price of the smartphone, it’s hard to complain too much about it.
Read also: Infinix HOT 30i smartphone review: the smart choice
Performance
The Infinix Smart 8 is equipped with an 8-core chipset, the Unisoc Tiger T606, manufactured using a 12nm process. Handling graphics is the ARM Mali-G57 MP1 co-processor.
There are three versions of the phone available: with 3/64 GB, 4/64 GB, or 4/128 GB of memory. By today’s standards, 64 GB might seem limited, but you can add up to 2 TB with a memory card (without sacrificing the second SIM). On the other hand, having 3-4 GB of RAM in 2024 might seem insufficient, but it can be effectively doubled with virtual memory (which utilizes the internal storage).
Basic tasks such as calls, messages, messengers, video playback, and web browsing are not a problem for the phone. Everything works, albeit not very fast. If you run multiple apps and switch between them, you may notice some delays. However, for an undemanding user, this won’t be a significant issue.
If you enjoy playing games, I can tell you straight away that this device is not for you. Lightweight games like arcade games work fine, but it won’t handle serious 3D games well; everything will lag.
Read also: Infinix NOTE 30 Pro review: The perfect mid-ranger from an ambitious brand
Infinix Smart 8 cameras
Infinix Smart 8 features a dual camera setup consisting of a main 50 MP module and an additional sensor (which seems to be there mainly for appearance and similarity to iPhones with three cameras). For selfies and video calls, there’s an 8 MP camera on the front panel.
The app offers a decent set of settings and modes, including filters, masks, and in the “Beauty” mode, you can even adjust facial contours, smooth wrinkles, and enhance skin tone. There are also features like time-lapse and night mode for photography.
The main camera takes decent photos, but only in good light. The pictures have natural colors and moderate detail. It’s certainly not something extraordinary, but for $90 it’s very good.
In low light conditions, the camera performs extremely poorly, resulting in significant noise in the photos, making it difficult to focus, and images often come out blurry. There is a night mode, but I can’t say it significantly improves photo quality. On the contrary, because you need to hold the phone still for quite some time, everything gets blurred. In the photo below on the right is precisely the night mode.
Selfies are not perfect. By default, the smartphone smoothes the skin, which makes the photo somewhat unnatural, and the camera is very dependent on the lighting, if it is slightly worse than ideal, the picture will be blurry.
The front and rear cameras can record video in 1080p and 720p formats at 30 frames per second. The quality is above average.
Summing up the camera capabilities: with an inexpensive smartphone, you get a camera of similar quality.
Read alsо: Infinix GT 10 Pro smartphone review: for gaming and beyond
Software
The Infinix Smart 8 runs on Android 13 Go with the XOS 13 interface. The smartphone’s interface has a pleasant appearance, but the abundance of pre-installed apps can be somewhat bothersome.
Battery life
Thanks to its 5000mAh battery capacity, the Smart 8 ensures long-lasting performance without the need for frequent charging. The modest processor and low-resolution screen are advantageous here — the phone can last up to 3-4 days with light usage. On average, expect about 1.5-2 days of real-world usage.
The package includes a 10W charger, which can be used for charging. However, it’s not a fast process — charging from 0 to 100% will take almost 2.5 hours.
The Infinix Smart 8 supports reverse charging, allowing it to be used as a power bank for other gadgets — a definite plus!
Sound
There’s only one speaker, located on the bottom panel, which is about what you’d expect for a device in this price range. However, the phone features DTS Digital Sound technology, providing loud and relatively high-quality audio. While I recommend good headphones for listening to music or watching movies, the speaker suffices for watching YouTube or having video calls.
Data transfer
The Infinix Smart 8 features basic connectivity options like 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.0. While the module versions are somewhat outdated, the absence of NFC is more critical, as it means you won’t be able to use your phone for contactless payments, a feature many have grown accustomed to ─ a significant downside.
Infinix Smart 8: Conclusions
The Infinix Smart 8 presents a paradox of strengths and weaknesses. It boasts an appealing design, a 90Hz display, and long battery life. However, its price is remarkably low. To achieve this, compromises were inevitable. Consequently, the phone has low performance, performs adequately in photography only in good lighting conditions, charges incredibly slowly, and its screen quality is subpar. Additionally, it lacks NFC for contactless payments..
In my opinion, the Smart 8 could serve as a secondary or backup phone at best. Alternatively, it could be suitable for elderly grandparents or young children who only need to make calls and occasionally look up something online (while allowing you to track their location, ruling out a basic feature phone). Overall, to rely solely on this phone, one would need to be a very undemanding user.
Advantages
- Refresh rate of 90 Hz: The display ensures smooth and responsive performance.
- Magic Ring feature: The cutout for the selfie camera can display useful information and notifications such as battery status, animations, call alerts, and incoming calls.
- Memory Fusion feature: The phone can utilize its internal storage to augment RAM, thereby slightly enhancing performance.
- Power bank function: The phone can charge other devices via cable, which can be handy, especially during travels.
- Package: includes a case and even wired earphones.
- Photo quality: good during the day (considering the price).
- Fingerprint scanner in the side button: works accurately.
Disadvantages
- Low productivity: multitasking may cause delays.
- Slow charging speed: supports only 10W charging.
- No NFC: cannot be used for contactless payments.
- Photo quality in low light: difficult to capture a decent shot.
- Low screen brightness: challenging to use outdoors on a sunny day.
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